Bed for snorers

ABSTRACT

A bed for preventing snoring includes a support; a mattress base tiltably secured to the support so as to provide for tilting motions of the mattress base about a longitudinal pivotal axis thereof; a drive for imparting a tilting motion to the mattress base out of and into a horizontal position; a load-sensitive switch operatively connected with the mattress base and the drive for tilting the mattress base out of the horizontal position in a direction opposite to a torque imparted by a load to the mattress base and limit switches operatively connected to the drive and cooperating with the mattress base for deenergizing the drive when the mattress base attains a predetermined tilted position during tilting motion from the horizontal position or when the mattress base attains the horizontal position during tilting motion from a tilted position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a bed having an influence on snoring, said bedhaving a mattress base, which is designed to be tiltable at least arounda longitudinal axis. The mattress base has essentially plane restingsurface and is joined to a preferably electro-motorized tilting drivewhich is connected by means of a control to a power supply.

In the past many attempts were made, in various ways, to prevent thesnoring of sleeping people since the sound caused thereby significantlydisturbs any person sleeping in the same room where from time to timesnoring can become so loud that even the sleeping person himself wakesup. If one wakes up the snorer, snoring stops, but his sleep has beeninterrupted. However, after going back to sleep, snoring starts again,often shortly afterwards. In most cases it has been realised that thesnoring sounds do not occur if and as long as the person concerned restson a side position. In order to force such side position, a device isknown from German Auslegeschrift (application published afterexamination) 11 98 005 which consists of a padded board having the samelength as the upper part of the body and which is hinged along thelongitudinal axis. The board is equipped with a locking device which canlock the part that can be lifted up at an angle of between 60° and 90° .The device is equipped at both ends with loops through which one leg andone arm are put through so that the sleeping person is forced into theside position by the part that is lifted up. Irrespective of thenon-yielding body support, restful sleep is not possible with such adevice since the sleeping person is pinned in a side position and is notable to turn around. Due to the arm loop, no free movement, not evene.g. the support of the head by an arm, is possible in the sideposition. Another disadvantage of the known device is that due to theloop placed around the thigh and the shoulder, blood circulation can berestricted.

From U.S. Pat. No. 3,089,130 a device for mounting on a bed is known inwhich the head of the sleeper is put on a head support which can betilted and is equipped with a vibrator. Sounds of snoring are picked upby a microphone and are fed as a control signal to a control which thenactivates the vibrator. By means of the vibrator the head of thesleeping person is shaken up and down so that the latter wakes up andsnoring ceases. Such a device does indeed stop the snoring veryeffectively, but, to a large extent, is unhealthy since the sleep of thesnorer is interrupted over and over again. From German Auslegeschrift 1151 347 a similar device is known which, however, causes the head of thesleeping person, resting on a horizontally movable support, to be movedback and forth. Switching on the device again takes place by means of amicrophone. With this device, only the head is turned to the side,regardless of the position of rest of the body, by a horizontal conveyorbelt which can be moved back and forth or by a horizontal board whichcan be slid back and forth so that because of the non-restricted forces,there is a risk of damage to the cervical vertebrae. The tilting of thehead to the side, forced on by the device and which is especiallyunnatural for the sleeping position, inevitably has to lead tointerruption of sleep so that. also here, in addition to the risk ofdamages to the cervical vertebrae, undisturbed sleep cannot be ensuredeither.

International Application WO 86/03663 describes a mattress which islongitudinally divided into three parts of which the middle one issupported on a tilting board by means of springs. In this case thesupine position can only be assumed if the sleeper lies on the middlesection exactly above the tilting roll. For each small move of the bodysideways with respect to the tilting section support, the tilting boardtilts to the side so that the middle section and the adjacent sidesection, also supported by springs, adopt in cross-section, a V-shapedorientation. If the sleeping person, while in the supine position liesapproximately on the joint between the middle section and the sidesection of the mattress, then these two adjoining sections are buckledinto a V-shape so that the mattress by and large has the effect of theinfamous "dip" of an old worn mattress. If the snorer is first on hisback in the V-shaped buckled joint area between the middle- and sidesection, then he has no possibility whatsoever to turn himself or beturned by a partner into the snore stopping side position since, due tothe effect of the tilting board, the body always has to be moved "uphill". The same disadvantage is attached to the bed design which isknown from German Patent 560 715 and which has ,a V-shaped foldablemattress support. From U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,281, German Utility Model 1837 239, as well as German Offenlegungsschriften (application publishedwithout examination) 26 36 746 and 24 08 784 hospital beds are knownwhich essentially have a trough-shaped resting surface and in which themattresses or the mattress base can be tilted around the longitudinalaxis. Such beds serve first to help the nursing personnel whentransferring patients, but are also intended to vary the pressure onindividual body parts where the body of the patients for medicalreasons, e.g. in the case of fractures or the like, may not changeposition relative to the resting surface due to the tilting. In certaincases, the circulation in bedridden persons is supposed to be aided byrocking motions of the resting surface (German Utility Model 18 37 239and German Offenlegungsschrift 24 08 784). None of these known beds aresuitable for domestic use since in practice these are so-called troughbeds which are supposed to secure the lying person in a given positionwhile clearly an essential aspect of a bed for normal residentialpurposes is that, in use, an unrestricted freedom of movement isprovided by a practically uniform resting surface.

This type of bed must also be available to the sleeping person so thatthe latter also during his sleep should be able to move unrestrictedlyinto another position, for example turning from the side on to the backand on to the other side.

In summary, it has been found that the devices developed specifically sofar to prevent snoring, are unsuitable for daily use. Even if beds areknown which are designed with at least parts of the mattress or themattress base tiltable around the longitudinal axis, they are designedfor hospital needs or the care of bedridden persons and are constructedin such a way that their use as normal beds for domestic requirements isnot possible and besides, the free movement of a sleeping person in suchbeds is to a large extent restricted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a bed of the type describedabove which prevents snoring or stops the snoring shortly after itsstarts without or with only the slightest restriction of the freedom ofmovement of the sleeping person. The construction has to be designed insuch a way that the device can be used in a domestic setting andfulfills all domestic requirements.

According to the invention, the problem may be solved if the mattressbase is preferably provided with non-contact limit switches which switchoff the driving mechanism each time the sloping position or horizontalposition is reached. Such a bed design has the advantage that thesleeping person can use the bed without any restriction on his freedomof movement and can lie as desired on the back and on either side. Inthe majority of cases people start to snore when deep sleep starts andif they are on their back. A person sleeping in the same room and who isdisturbed by the snoring sound, can now start by means of a suitableswitch, preferably a simple touch switch, the geared motor, somethingwhich also can be carried out when one is half asleep, so that at thispoint the mattress base together with the mattress and the sleepingperson is tilted up in a set sloping position. Surprisingly, it has beenfound that with a sloping position of between 10° and 25° a sleepingperson, lying on his back, within a short time rolls himself into theside position without waking. If the bed is kept for a period of a fewminutes in this sloping position, the sleeping person moves by himselfinto a stable side position so that then the bed can be tilted backagain by hand to the horizontal position. However, it is especiallyuseful if the control is connected to a short-interval time switch whichafter a given time has lapsed, switches on the tilting drive to returnthe bed to the horizontal position. In this way the bed returns to itsnormal position without the sleeping person immediately turning again onhis back. On the other hand, the sleeping person lying there, is notprevented from moving freely and can even move, after some time, intoanother sleeping position. Often, when sleeping on one side for some.time, the other side is taken so that in spite of the horizontalposition of the resting surface, the sleeping person in question doesnot immediately start snoring again.

On the other hand, the person who initiates the tilting movement doesnot have to take care that the bed, after the snoring has ceased,returns to the normal position. Rather this takes place automatically.The use of an electric motor, preferably an electric geared motor, hasthe advantage that the tilting movement can be carried out practicallywithout any disturbing running noise using small motors of lowelectrical power. The tilting axis of the mattress base can in itssimplest form be arranged on a long side, so that the mattress base withthe other long side edge, depending on the available height above thefloor, can be brought out of the horizontal position into the slopingposition by tilting down or tilting up.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, for a bed witha mattress base which can be tilted around at least one longitudinalaxis, preferably around the longitudinal central axis, in bothdirections from the horizontal position, a load sensitive switch isfurther provided which controls the direction of each of the tiltingmovements from the horizontal position to oppose the load moment givenby a onesided load on the mattress base. Since the sleeping person doesnot always lie in the supine position exactly in the longitudinalcentral axis of the mattress base or the mattress, but can also likelylie only on one of the sides of the mattress, this embodiment has theadvantage that for the sloping position, the mattress base is tilted upon the side on which the sleeping person in question lies so that thereis adequate room for movement to lie on the side. Depending on thedesign of the tilting drive, the load sensitive switch should beinstalled on the box frame of the bed between the mattress base and thesupport of the tilting drive, e.g. where the motor is attached to thebed box frame since in this place the load moment can be detected astensile- or compressive force. Switching can also be carried out bydetermining the load on the motor. The mattress base can be carriedeither on the two long sides so that it can be tilted to one or theother side as the case may be, or is supported so it can be tilted toboth sides around the longitudinal central axis.

The mattress base can be supported at the end using either a shaftjournal on the bed box frame or a separate supporting frame. The drivemotor can transfer the torque directly via a shaft journal in which casean appropriate gearing has to be provided. The tilting around alongitudinal axis can also be accomplished by connecting the mattressbase in each case at the end to the bed frame or its supporting frame bymeans of two tilting levers where the two tilting levers may not beparallel but have to be at an angle to one another in the tilting plane.The base of the mattress can be connected by "suspended"from the tiltinglevers but can also be connected by "stand" thereon. This design formsat both ends a so-called four-bar-chain and an adjustment of the anglesformed between the levers, their length and the distance between the barand the mattress base or the box frame of the bed can influence thetilting angle and its dependence on the driving stroke, e.g. aconnecting rod.

Instead of a single rigid mattress base, the latter can also be dividedlengthwise so that corresponding to the control of the motor by the loaddependent switch one longitudinal half or the other longitudinal half istilted up and is tilted back after an appropriate time.

According to an embodiment of the invention, an electric geared motor,which acts on a connecting rod, constitutes the tilting drive. With sucha tilting drive the required torques for the tilting can also begenerated with small electric motors in which case the tilting iscompleted in a relatively short time so that the sleeping person, asdesired, immediately moves on to his side. The connecting rod can bedesigned as a rack or a screw spindle. A screw spindle drive has theadvantage of running quieter and having greater gear ratio so that evenwith small motors, high torques can be exerted by means of theconnecting rod.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the geared motor isinstalled at the end under the mattress base and at a distance from thetilting axis. This arrangement has the advantage that the standardover-all length of a bed is not exceeded since the already availablefree space under the mattress base is used for the installation of thegeared motor. Through an appropriate selection of the distance betweenthe geared motor and the tilting axis, the torque to be applied here canbe considerably reduced. The motor should be installed as far aspossible from the tilting axis.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, in particular fora mattress base which can be tilted around the longitudinal cehtralaxis, the connecting rod is connected with the load sensitive switch ofthe control giving the direction of the load moment. In this embodiment,one relies on the fact that with regard to the cross direction, thecentrally supported mattress base acts as a balance beam so that thetilting drive "feels" on which half of the mattress the sleeping personlies. If the snoring starts, the tilting drive is switched on to turn insuch a way that the loaded mattress half is tilted up so that again itis ensured that the sleeping person turns on his side towards the emptyhalf of the bed. This effect can also be used if the mattress base ineach case is provided with tilting bearings on the long sides and eachlong side is connected with a lifting drive. To tilt, the drive is thenactuated on the side on which the highest load moment acts.

According to a specially advantageous embodiment of the invention, anelectro-acoustic sensor is provided which is connected to the controland which in the case of sounds of snoring switches on the tiltingdrive. In active areas, this electro-acoustic sensor can consist of asimple microphone which is provided with an appropriate control thatswitches on the tilting drive when a certain sound level is exceeded.

However, the electro-acoustic sensor control can also be designed insuch a way that the tilting drive is only switched on if sounds of agiven sound level and within a certain frequency range, namely the lowfrequency range usual for snoring, are detected over a certain period.This arrangement has the advantage that the tilting drive is switched onas a result of the sounds produced by snoring. In this way a person,sleeping in the same room, does not have to actuate a switch. Theparticular advantage is that also for a snorer sleeping by himself, thesnoring ceases within a short time. The reason that this is important isbecause according to recent medical investigations, snoring is alsodetrimental to the health of the snorer himself.

A preferred embodiment provides that fixed holding elements are attachedto both long sides of the mattress base for the edge of the mattress.This arrangment has the advantage that without additional movable partson the side .which tilts down in each case, the mattress is kept in itsoriginal position at the edge by means of the holding elements and thusa somewhat horizontal resting surface to support the body in the sideposition continues to exist. The flexibility of a modern mattress issufficient to form a smooth transition from the sloping surface to theessentially horizontal edge surface. According to the invention theholding elements are attached in a comblike fashion along both longsides to the fixed parts of the bed.

A particular embodiment of the invention provides that the mattress baseis formed as a platform of slats, known per se, the slats being spacedat right angles to the longitudinal axis. Holding elements are attachedto the bed at the long sides of the mattress base and in each caseprotrude from below into the gap between two slats. Their top ends areessentially in the plane of the platform of slats when the mattress baseis in the horizontal position. This embodiment can also be modified sothat the slat platform itself remains in its original position and onlythe mattress is lifted from the edge by means of appropriately designedholding elements, connected to a drive, and is brought into the requiredsloping position over a sufficient width so that the body of thesleeping person can roll into the side position. Load sensitive sensorsmay also be provided in this case for the respective drives so that themattress is lifted on the "right" side when sounds of snoring occur.This arrangement can be made in such a way that the holding elements viatheir drive are supported directly on the floor of the room or on thebottom of the box frame of the bed so that through appropriate change inheight, one mattress side is tilted up. In a variant of this design itis also possible within the framework of the invention to support themattress base itself using at least two legs which can be adjusted inheight by means of a drive and by means of which the tilting then can beachieved. By installing four legs whose height can be adjusted, wherethe legs installed on one long side can in each case be operatedsynchronously, a special tilting support can be omitted for the mattressbase depending on the design.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the mattress base atthe edge of the part which protrudes from the horizontal plane duringtilting, may have a downwardly directed protective skirt extending intothe bed box frame. Such a protective skirt installed at least along thelong sides, ensures that in the tilted up position nothing can get intothe gap opening up between the mattress base and the edge of the bed boxframe so that injuries are avoided when turning around.

According to the invention, for a bed of the type described above, aconversion set is proposed which is characterized by two end parts whicheach have a tilting bearing for the mattress base and which are equippedwith height-adjustable legs. While in the manufacture of beds, thetilting bearing for the mattress base as well as the attachment of thetilting drive do not pose any problem, the later conversion of existingbeds causes considerable problems. To start with, the dimensions ofmattresses are not standardized with the dimensions of beds, so thatdifferent heights have to be taken into consideration. Furthermore, itmust be taken into consideration that with the materials used or becauseof the design, e.g. for veneered or fabric covered bed box frames, thelater conversion to install the tilting bearing is not possible sincethe total weight of the sleeping person now has to be carried by bothend mounted tilting bearings instead of by the long ledges on the bedbox frame. For this, the dimensions and also the strengths of materialsused in the construction of the box frame of the bed are usually notadequate. The embodiment according to the invention, now makes itpossible to install in an existing bed box frame, in the form of aconversion set, both end parts which are equipped with the tiltingbearings and support the mattress base. By appropriate adjustment of theheight of the legs, the supporting surfaces of the mattress base, takinginto consideration the thickness of the existing mattress, can beadjusted exactly to the height of the existing bed box frame. With acentrally supported mattress base the latter is narrower than theoriginal mattress base so that the base of the mattress can freelyextend past the supporting ledges of the box frame of the bed. Theheight adjustment has to be carried out in such a way that the tiltingoperation together with the carried mattress can take place practicallyunhindered within the angle given by the tilting.

The end parts, provided with legs, can then be fixed to the appropriateends of the bed box frame, e.g. by means of screws, in order to ensure aperfect support and alignment of the end parts. However, in many cases,since the materials of the existing bed box frame are not suitable forusing screws capable of carrying heavy loads, an advantageous embodimentof the invention provides that both end parts are securely connected toone another via at least a longitudinal bar. In this way aself-supporting insert piece is obtained which is independent of the boxframe of the bed. Especially for mattress bases, of which the tiltingaxis is in the longitudinal central axis, it would be useful if thelongitudinal bar be connected with the end part below the tiltingbearing.

In this way it is ensured that the mattress base can freely be tilted toboth sides. In order to be able to fit such a conversion set on anexisting bed box frame, further provision has been made so that thelongitudinal bar be designed in such a way that its length isadjustable. This can be obtained e.g. by means of a segmentedlongitudinal bar which is designed to overlap at the joint and which isprovided with a series of holes and a screw connection by means ofbolts. In another embodiment of the invention, provision has furtherbeen made that the mattress base has a frame of which the longitudinalgirders and transverse girders are designed in such a way that theirlength is adjustable. In this way it is also possible to fit themattress base within a given range, to the dimensions of an existing bedbox frame.

According to another embodiment of the invention the longitudinal andtransverse girders are designed as tubular profiles and are securelyconnected to one another by means of telescopic insertable anddetachable connecting pieces. The adjustment in length of both thetransverse girders and the longitudinal girders is preferably done bymeans of corner forming angle pieces which are designed in such a waythat they can be inserted in a telescopic like way into each end of thetransverse girder and of the pertinent longitudinal girder and can beattached to the bars. The connection can also be made again by means ofan appropriate series of holes at the respective ends of the girders andin the ends to be inserted of the angle pieces and by insertable bolts.

According to another embodiment of the invention the end parts aredesigned to be adjustable with respect to width, especially with respectto the distance between the legs. This arrangement has the advantagethat the end parts can be adapted exactly to the width of the bed boxframes so that the end parts with a separately installed conversion setare supported on the side of the bed box frame and thus provide thenecessary securing of the conversion set against lateral displacement.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the frame of themattress base is provided with a slat platform which is connected to theframe by means of holding devices. From an orthopedic point of view aslat platform is not only an ideal support for a mattress, but for a bedof the type according to the invention, it also has the advantage thatthe surface formed by the frame of the mattress base is completely clearbelow the slat platform so that the required free space is available forthe downward tilting movement.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a pivot is installedin the standing parts to constitute a tilting bearing whenever a pivotpin attached to the frame is supported. The arrangement of a pivot,especially for a bed of the type acccording to the invention, which isproduced by a later installed component, has the advantage that sagging,caused by inaccuracies during installation or also alignment errors dueto unevenness of the floor as well as deformations of the mattress baseunder load, is corrected so that a perfect tilting movement is alwayspossible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a bed box frame of a normal bed with aconversion set;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line II--II of FIG. 1 through an endthereof without representation of the base;

FIG. 3 illustrates on a large scale the corner of an embodiment of amattress base which can be adjusted in length and in width;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the mattress base with a tilting drive;

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of an electric operating circuit;

FIG. 6 is a partial view in longitudinal direction of an embodiment withholding elements holding the mattress;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a tilting bearing of the mattress baseabove height adjustable legs.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As an example, there is described, a so-called conversion set whichmakes it possible to convert an existing bed into a bed for snorers,which is especially desirable in the case of valuable furniture.Irrespective of the individual type of design, the bed section isdescribed in the following as bed box frame 1. With a view to a clearerrepresentation, the bed box frame 1 is shown in dotted lines.

The conversion is carried out in such a manner that the existingmattress base, e.g. a spring frame, is removed from the bed and theconversion set is then installed in the bed box frame. The conversionset is designed in such a way that it represents a self-contained,self-supporting structural unit. Besides the installation and theadaptation to the dimensions of the bed box frame 1, described in detailhereinafter, no additional installation measures are required such ase.g. the attachment of parts of the conversion set to the bed box frame1.

The conversion set is essentialy made up of two end parts 2 and 3, eachof which are provided with legs 4 (FIG. 2). The two end parts 2 and 3are securely connected to one another by means of a longitudinal bar 5which runs below the longitudinal central axis. On each of the two endparts 2 and 3 tilting bearings 6 are installed which are designed aspivots which carry a pivot pin 7 of a mattress base 8 designed as aframe. The pivot pins 7 are also in the longitudinal central axis of themattress base 8 so that the latter can be tilted to both sides. Insteadof mounting it by means of pivot pins 7, the mattress base 8 can besupported at its ends by means of two toggle joints of which the otherend in each case is hinged to the end parts 2 and 3 respectively closeto the floor. The toggle joints at each end are set at an angle to eachother and form in each case a four-bar-chain as is indicatedschematically in FIG. 7. The slope of the toggle joint 32 with respectto the horizontal and the distance of the joints 33, 34 and 35, 36respectively to one another determines the relation of the pivotdistance of the joint and the slope of the mattress base.

The mattress base 8 can be tilted to both sides into a sloping positionfrom the horizontal position by means of a tilting drive 9, e.g. anelectric geared motor, which is hinged to the end part 3 via aconnecting rod 10 which is e.g. in the form of a rack.

Since, apart from the various differences in mattress size, the internaldimensions of existing bed box frames are different, depending on designof the padding of the mattress base, the conversion set is designed insuch a way that, by and large, it can be adjusted both in width andlength as well as with regard to height. The arrangement can be suchthat the drive motor 9 is installed on the end part or on the bed boxframe and the connecting rod 10 is hinged to the mattress base. Insteadof a rack, the connecting rod can also be in the form of a threadedspindle with is provided with a corresponding spindle nut. Depending onthe design of the drive, the spindle or the spindle nut can be turnedand operated by means of a motor. To support the mattress base withtoggle joints, the connecting rod can also act on one of the togglejoints (cf. arrow 37 in FIG. 7)

As shown in FIG. 2, the end parts 2 and 3 are wide enough to be used inthe narrowest bed box frame on the market. In addition, at the end thereare in each case through the end parts a plurality of holes 11 whichcorrespond with the holes 12 in the support legs 4. In this way it ispossible to adjust the height of the longitudinal central axis of thearrangment, defined by the tilting bearing 6, with respect to the flooror with respect to the existing bed box frame 1 by means of appropriatechange in height of the legs 4 with respect to the end parts 2 and 3.The width between the legs 4 can also be adjusted at the same time so asto rest against the inside of the bed box frame 1 thereby enabling theinserted part to be secured in the bed box frame 1 against sidewaysdisplacements.

The mattress base, designed as a simple frame, in the illustratedembodiment is preferably made of tubular members. In order to alsoobtain the required adjustment in width and length, each corner isprovided with angle pieces such as connecting pieces 13 which have crossdrilled holes 14 at set intervals. These angle pieces are inserted atthe ends into each of the frame forming longitudinal girders 15 andtransverse girders 16 which are provided with at least two transversedrill holes. Depending on required length, the connecting piece 13 isthen telescopically inserted into the longitudinal girder 15 and/or intothe transverse girder 16 until the required dimension is met. The anglepieces 13 are then securely connected to the transverse girders 16 andto the longitudinal girders 15, e.g. by means of screw bolts 17. Thelongitudinal bar 5 is in a similar way provided with a telescopic-likeconnecting piece 18 which is movable with respect to the bar as isschematically shown in FIG. 1.

The arrangement and the operation of the tilting drive is furtherschematically illustrated in FIG. 4. In the illustrated embodiment, thetilting drive is formed of an electric geared motor 9 of which the driveshaft has a pinion 19 which interacts with teeth of the connection rod10, constituting a rack. The geared motor is suitably installed on theunderside of the mattress base 8 in order to be able to achieve the bestpossible utilization of the space of the existing bed box frame. Theconnecting rod 10 is appropriately hinged to the designated end part 2or 3 and is kept engaged in the usual way with the pinion 19 by means ofan appropriate cage on the geared motor 9. FIG. 4 shows the arrangementin the horizontal position. Depending on the direction of rotation ofthe geared motor 9, the mattress base 8 can now be tilted, as the casemay be, upwards or downwards over an angle of between 10° and 25° withrespect to the horizontal.

The joint of the connecting rod 10 to the end part 2 or 3 is providedwith a load sensitive reversing switch 20 which is designed in such away that for the application of a load on connecting rod 10 by aclockwise load moment, the rotation of the geared motor 9 is directed sothat when switched on, the mattress base is tilted up counterclockwise.For an application of load on the connecting rod 10 by a load momentwhich acts counterclockwise, the rotation is directed by the reversingswitch in such a way that a tilting of the mattress base takes place ina clockwise direction.

Further, the electric control also has limit switches which in each casewhen actuated, switch the geared motor off when the respective slopingposition has been reached, but also when the mattress base is tiltedback from the sloping position into the horizontal position. For this,three limit switches are provided which suitably are designed asnon-contact limit switches. Compared to usual limit switches, these havethe advantage that no maintenance is required and that thus breakdownsdue to dust accumulation which is inevitable in a bedroom, are excluded.

It is, however, also possible to install appropriately enclosed limitswitches. In FIG. 4 three limit switches 21, 22 and 23 are illustrated.In addition, part of the control element is installed in each case on anend part and the appropriate control element is installed on themattress base. Since these are limit switches of usual design, they areonly indicated schematically.

The relation of the individual switch elements within the framework of acontrol is shown in FIG. 5. The three limit switches 21, 22 and 23 arefirst connected to an appropriately designed electric control 24 in sucha way that in each case they turn off the motor when the positiondefined by the limit switch is reached. However, at the same time arelated switch in the control is actuated as usual which permits arestart of the motor in the opposite direction.

The load sensitive switch 20 disposed on the joint of the connecting rod10 is also connected to the control 24 so that depending on the loadmoment which is set by the load of the mattress base and which canchange as a function of the actual position of the sleeping person, arotation of the motor 9 opposed to the direction of the load momenttakes place as soon as the motor is switched on.

The motor can be started by means of a switch 25, preferably a touchswitch. In addition, in the embodiment illustrated, an electro-acousticsensor 26 is also provided, e.g. in the form of a small microphone,which is connected in a measuring circuit 27, whose signal output isconnected to control 24. The measuring circuit 27 can be designed insuch a way that it transmits a control signal if, by means of theelectro-acoustic sensor, a sound is detected which exceeds a given soundlevel. However, it is useful to design the measuring circuit in such away that the control signal is only sent if sounds of a certainfrequency and/or a given sound level are detected by theelectro-acoustic sensor 26. Since snoring sounds have a very lowfrequency, it would thus be possible to filter this frequency range soas to prevent other sounds from triggering a control signal.

By means of a mechanical or electrical short-interval time switch 28which also is connected via an appropriate circuit to the control 24,after a certain period of e.g. 5 to 10 minutes, the mattress base againmay be tilted back from the sloping position to the horizontal positionso that the sleeping person who now lies on his side, can continue tosleep undisturbed. This is of importnace, beacuse when the mattress baseis kept in the sloping position for a longer period, due to the unusualposition of the body and the tendency of the relaxed body lying on themattress to roll "downwards", the sleep is interrupted, or at least,however, the deep sleep is reduced for a short time due to the movementsof the muscles.

To connect the limit switches to the mattress base, they can also beintegrated in the drive mechanism. The actual sloping position can alsobe adjusted by the setting of the connecting rod or rack on the drivemotor.

As the partial view according to FIG. 6 shows, fixed comblike arrangedholding elements 30, according to an embodiment, are attached to bothlong edges of the slat platform which forms the mattress base. Theindividual holding elements 30 protrude from below into the gap betweeneach pair of slats 31 and, with the mattress base in the horizontalposition, their upper ends reach preferably just below the carryingsurface of the slat platform.

If the mattress base 8 is tilted, as is shown in dotted lines in FIG. 6,the edge of the supported mattress is kept at the original height by theholding elements 30 so that the mattress at the edge is deformed into aslight trough. The edge is then slightly bent up relative to the restingsurface of the mattress so that the body is perfectly supported in theside position. This prevents the sleeping person, in the tiltedposition, from having the feeling that he might fall out of bed.

From the representation according to FIG. 6, it can be seen that themovement can also be reversed. In particular for a slat platform, theholding elements 30 make it possible to put the slat platform as usualin the bed box frame and to connect the holding elements with the driveso that when the control is actuated, the holding elements lift up theside of the mattress. For soft mattresses an appropriately rigid basehas to be provided to bring a sufficiently wide area of the mattressinto the sloping position which brings about the change in bodyposition. This base is suitably hinged to or hinged close to the otherlong side. This base can also be formed by slats of the slat platform.The individual slats are alternately hinged to the one and to the otherlongitudinal girder of the frame. The other end is then supported ineach case at the other long side by a holding element which can beraised and lowered. In this case the holding elements do not reach intothe gap. To the holding elements 30 on each long side a drive isattached in each case which can e.g. be a connecting rod drive of theearlier mentioned design. By means of appropriate load sensitive sensorsprovided in the control, care must also be taken that the "right" sidetilts up, thus the side on which the higher load is.

For other mattress base designs, appropriate recesses must be providedwhich make the passage of the holding elements possible. The arrangmentof the holding elements must be designed in such a way that the tiltingfreedom of the mattress base is not restricted, and that the mattress isheld securely at the edge.

In order to avoid injuries, a downwardly extending, encirclingprotective skirt 38 is attached to each of the upwards tiltable parts ofthe mattress base 8. When the edge of the mattress base is tilted abovethe edge 39 of the bed box frame 1, the formation of a gap is avoided inwhich one could unintentionally be caught.

For a tilting arrangement of the mattress base by means of pivot pins asshown in FIG. 1, the protective skirt 38 can be made of a rigidmaterial, e.g. of plastic.

For a tilting arrangement by means of toggle joints, rigid shaped partscan only be installed at the edges of the ends since the tiltingoperation also includes a horizontally displaced component. Therefore,at the long sides protective skirts of a flexible material must beprovided, e.g. a roller-blind type textile skirt which remainssufficiently tightly stretched.

As FIG. 7 shows, the drive 9, e.g. in the form of vertically orientedconnecting rods, can be attached permanently in each case to bars 32with which the holding elements 30 are connected. The slats 31 of theslat platform are alternately supported on these so that in each case,one half of the slats can be tilted up to the right and the other halfto the left, depending on the control by the control. The frame 8 liessecurely in the bed box frame 1.

Instead of the individual slats, the frame altogether can be tilted upeither to the right or to the left. Here it is also possible to designthe drives using their connecting rods at the same time as legs for theframes. However, the bars 32 can also be moved up and down by means of atilting drive.

It will be understood that the above description of the presentinvention is susceptible to various modifications, changes andadaptions, and the same are intended to be comprehended within themeaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A bed for preventing snoring, comprising:(a) asupport; (b) a mattress base having a length and an essentially planarresting surface; (c) means for tiltably securing said matress base tosaid support so as to provide for tilting motions of said matress baseabout a longitudinal pivotal axis thereof; (d) drive means for impartinga tilting motion to said mattress base out of and into a horizontalposition; (e) a load-sensitive switch means operatively connected withsaid mattress base and said drive means for tilting said mattress baseout of the horizontal position in a direction opposite to a torqueimparted by a load to said mattress base and (f) limit switch meansoperatively connected to said drive means and cooperating with saidmattress base for deenergizing said drive means when said mattress baseattains a predetermined tilted position during tilting motion from thehorizontal position or when said mattress base attains the horizontalposition during tilting motion from a tilted position.
 2. A bed asdefined in claim 1, wherein said mattress base has a centrallongitudinal axis; said longitudinal pivotal axis coinciding with saidcentral longitudinal axis.
 3. A bed as defined in claim 1, wherein saidlimit switch means comprises a plurality of non-contact limit switches.4. A bed as defined in claim 1, wherein said drive means comprises anelectric motor.
 5. A bed as defined in claim 4, further comprising aconnection rod coupled to said electric motor and said mattress base fortilting said mattress base by said electric motor through saidconnecting rod; further wherein said connection rod is coupled to saidload-sensitive switch means.
 6. A bed as defined in claim 5, whereinsaid connecting rod is coupled to said load-sensitive switch means.
 7. Abed as defined in claim 1, further comprising a short-interval timeswitch means operatively connected to said drive means for energizingsaid drive means to return said mattress base into the horizontalposition from the tilted position after a predetermined delay.
 8. A bedas defined in claim 7, further comprising an electro-acoustic sensoroperatively connected to said drive means for energizing said drivemeans in response to snoring sounds.
 9. A bed as defined in claim 1,further comprising holding elements secured to said support alongopposite longitudinal sides of said mattress base and being arranged forengaging edge zones of a mattress supported on said mattress base.
 10. Abed as defined in claim 9, wherein said mattress base comprises a slatplatform formed of a plurality of spaces slats oriented perpendicularlyto the longitudinal pivotal axis; said holding elements projecting frombelow into gaps defined between adjoining slats; each holding elementhaving an upper end being essentially coplanar with said slat platformin the horizontal position of said mattress base.
 11. A bed as definedin claim 10, wherein said mattress base has a central longitudinal axis;further wherein said means for tiltably securing said mattress base tosaid support comprises a pivot pin defining said longitudinal pivotalaxis; said longitudinal pivotal axis extending parallel to and spacedfrom said central longitudinal axis.
 12. A bed as defined in claim 1,wherein said support comprises a box frame; further comprising aprotective skirt secured to a longitudinal edge of said mattress baseand extending downwardly into said box frame for providing a shieldbelow said longitudinal edge when said longitudinal edge is positionedabove a level of said box frame in said tilted position of said mattressbase.
 13. A bed for preventing snoring, comprising(a) a support; (b) amattress base having a length, a longitudinal axis and an essentiallyplanar resting surface; said mattress base comprising a slat platformformed of a plurality of spaced slats oriented perpendicularly to thelongitudinal axis; (c) means for tiltably securing said mattress base tosaid support so as to provide for tilting motions of said mattress baseabout a longitudinal pivotal axis thereof; (d) drive means for impartinga tilting motion of said mattress base out of and into a horizontalposition; (e) limit switch means operatively connected to said driveemans and cooperating with said mattress base for deenergizing saiddrive means when said mattress base attains a predetermined tiltedposition during tilting motion from the horizontal position or when saidmattress base attains the horizontal postion during tilting motion froma tilted position; and (f) holding elements secured to said supportalong opposite longitudinal sides of said mattress base and beingarranged for engaging edge zones of a mattress supported on saidmattress base; said holding elements projecting from below into gapsdefined between adjoining slats; each holding element having an upperend being essentially coplanar with said slat platform in the horizontalposition of said mattress base.